Persuasion
by Misty Grimes
Summary: Rick wants to start a new beginning with Michonne, but she's reluctant. Michonne can bravely face a hundred walkers, but changing the relationship dynamics between them, scares her. Can Rick convince her to take a chance on him?
1. Part One

Hi! I wanted to send out a huge thank you to all those who read and commented on my first published fan fiction "Time." The response was incredible and have encourage me to keep writing new material. Thank you, thank you so much! I hope you all enjoy my latest story. -Love Misty

* * *

"We should start thinking about expanding this place east," Rick said. He and Michonne were making their last rounds through the Alexandria Safe Zone before ending the workday. They stopped near the back wall where the construction crew led by Abraham were burning the walkers they cleared from half a block of houses.

"East is going towards the city. Could be risky to be so close and I don't think we have the numbers yet to make clearing out areas easier." Rick nodded at Michonne's argument, he knew it wasn't time yet and he knew Michonne was gong to object, but he would use any opportunity to get a conversation going between them nowadays.

"Yeah, but east means getting closer to the Potomac River. Won't have to worry about running out of water, can fish, and swim. It's worth a shot, I do remember you saying somethang to that effect a couple of months ago," Rick smiled.

"You forgot the part where our lives were dependent on taking that shot."

Michonne takes a moment to remember how lost they were only a short two months ago. After being hit with setback after setback since the Governor had made his return, it took a passionate plea from Michonne to get Rick to understand that surviving was not enough to live. Michonne also remembered later that very night, her and Rick picking at the last few bits of squirrel meat while the rest of the group slept. It was almost déjà vu to the night they had the unfortunate benefit of encountering a group of men that threaten to rape Carl and Michonne, tried to beat Daryl to death and promised to murder them all until Rick intervened in the most brutal of fashions. But that night they weren't in any imminent danger and instead of talking about how small the squirrel was, Rick decided that night to confess his attraction to Michonne.

"Yeah well here we are thanks to you," Rick said, his words interrupting Michonne's solo walk down memory lane. Rick wanted to ask her again if there could be an ' _us'._ Confessing to Michonne that he wanted something more with her than just a friendship was hard for him. He at the time didn't even know where he got the courage to even confront her with his romantic feelings for her, where ever it came from, here it was again trying to get Rick to open up.

"Stop… thanking me. I wasn't the only one who wanted to give this place a chance." Michonne spoke quickly, "Glenn, Carol even Daryl wanted to go forward. I'm just the one who spoke up first."

"And I'm glad. I'm glad it was you." Rick stepped closer to Michonne, making the distance between them much smaller. Michonne glanced over Rick's shoulder and saw Abraham looking in their direction. "Michonne…"

Michonne moved her eyes back up to Rick's face, she didn't want to look at him directly because she knew he'd see her regret. Michonne felt remorse for being afraid to move forward with Rick. They with Carl had become a family unit, for a moment, she thought it was only going to be just them after the fall of the prison. Rick and Carl were the answer to Mike's question. They were her future, she knew this, so why did she turn down Rick? Every fiber in her body wanted to rain kisses down Rick's bearded face when he had proposed them beginning a new stage in their relationship. Every fiber, but it took a nanosecond for her brain to order her mouth to say "no." And right now, her brain was sending the rest of her body, its marching orders.

"Rick… our shift's over. I got to get back home, Carol and I planned a special dinner for Sasha. She's stll having a hard time adjusting." Michonne moved back, she could see that Abraham was no longer watching and that the construction crew had finished their work for the day as well. Pretty soon, folks would be coming towards her and Rick. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay." Michonne turned and began to walk down the quiet streets of Alexandria.

"Michonne, wait." She does what Rick asks of her and turns back towards him. With one hand on his holster and the other rubbing the stubble beginning to form on his face, Rick contemplated his next words. Removing his hand from his face he walked with purpose towards Michonne and took her face into his hands. "Do you really only see us as friends?"

Touching the back of Rick's hands on her face, Michonne fought within herself to not kiss each of his fingers, instead she removed his hands from her face and once again steps back.

"Tell Carl and Judith I said hello." "Jessie too…," Michonne said, she turned around and continued on her walk home.

* * *

Rick walked in the door of his home and was greeted by Kyle, a black Labrador whose previous owners died during the Wolves attack.

"Hey buddy," Rick bent down and scratched behind the dog's ears as it excitedly licked his face. Carl was the one that wanted to adopt Kyle, they hadn't had a pet since the world turned and Rick was grateful that Kyle was able to bring some joy to the house.

"He's been missing you all day," Rick looked up to see Jessie standing by the kitchen entrance, she was drying her hands off as she walked towards them.

"Is that right?" Kyle sniffed around Rick's jacket, hunting for a treat he thought could be within one of the pockets.

"I missed you too," she said. Rick quirked his eyes at Jessie, frowning slightly. Jessie chuckled, "I mean the food has gotten cold, I was expecting you home like twenty minutes ago." She smiled at Rick and Rick smiled back. From the outside looking in, one would assume they were watching a husband and wife talk, but as far as Rick was concern that was furthest from the truth. Rick gave Kyle one last rub and walked past Jessie towards the kitchen.

"Sorry, I wanted to re-inspect the walls after the crew was done." Rick washed his hands in the sink and picked up the plate of mashed potatoes, green beans and a small portion of meat. "Good thing for microwaves, I'll just heat this up. Thank you."

Jessie sat at the kitchen table while Rick waited for the timer to stop on the microwave.

"Carol came over," Jessie was fiddling with her nails, "about an hour ago, she put Judith to sleep. For some reason I've yet to master that job." She then moved up to her hair, re-doing the ponytail. "Last time I checked on Carl, he was reading."

"Ron and Sam?" Rick could sense that something was wrong and Jessie was beating around the bush to tell him.

"Sam is asleep upstairs. Ron is… he's not here?" Rick wasn't surprise by Jessie's revelation, Ron had refused to stay with Rick and Carl. His anger over his father's death and Rick being the cause of it had yet to end. As far as Rick was concern, Ron not staying with them was for the best, he had already made one attempt on Rick's life, giving him the access to make a second was not going to happen. The timer on the microwave beeped, Rick pulled out the food and grabbed the fork on the table.

"I talked to Abe, he offered to have a couple of people start repairing your house, tomorrow." That was partially a lie. When Michonne walked away, Rick came up to Abe and asked that he find people to fix up Jessie's house. He didn't want any more obstacles between himself and Michonne and it was clear Michonne felt Jessie was one.

"Wow, I thought they weren't going to start cleaning up the houses until all the walls had been repaired?"

"They're ahead of schedule. I hope you don't mind that I gave Abe the go ahead," Rick said feigning concern.

"Oh, no, I think… I think Sam would enjoy sleeping in his own bed again," disappointment was etched in Jessie's words, but her face showed otherwise.

"Good, I'm going to eat upstairs, go over some stuff." Rick took a bite of the potatoes, "thanks for this." He then left the kitchen, leaving Jessie at the table.

Once in his room, Rick placed the barely touched meal on a drawer and walked over to the crib that his beautiful daughter Judith occupied. She was fast asleep with her thumb in her mouth, Rick leaned over the crib and caressed her soft cheek. He will always be eternally grateful to be given another day to watch her grow.

Rick then kicked off his boots and stripped down to his boxers and laid down on the bed. He looked over at the nightstand, the clock read 11:53, and he groaned knowing that he'll be back up in a couple of hours. Beside the clock was a woman's silver watch. It was Michonne's, he wonder how long it had been there and if she purposely left it behind. He gave it to her many months ago when she was on the hunt for the Governor.

 _ **6 months ago**_

" _Hey you heading out?"_

" _Yeah, I want to track the camping site I found. Michonne was packing. Rick admired her persistence in searching for the Governor. She's been searching to put an end to his existence since Andrea was buried. And at first Rick was ok with this because Daryl as well went with her, but after two months Daryl determined the trail went cold, but Michonne refused to give up. And for the past month or so she'd come home for about a day or two and then leave for a week._

 _Now each time she left, her leaving began to irritate Rick. He tried to excuse his irritation to being worried for Michonne's safety and he was, but he also enjoyed that the time she was at the prison was being spent with him and Carl._

" _I wanna give you somethang," Rick held out in his hand a silver watch, it was one of those cheap watches one would find at a Claire's, but it was still in working condition. Michonne turned away from her packing and gave Rick a smile._

" _What's it for?"_

" _You talked about sometimes wanting a sense of time when you're out there, maybe this could help." Michonne picked up the watch from Rick's hand._

" _Thank you," Rick was happy to see her beautiful smile grow wide. She inspected it closely and then placed it on her left wrist._

" _Here, let me help," Rick walk towards her, Michonne turned her arm so that he could clasp the watch. Rick tried not to breathe too heavy, but the scent of her freshly clean skin and clothes and the tiny bit of skin to skin contact was pulling him in._

 _Once the watch was on he took a step back and their eyes met._

" _Be careful," he said and gave her a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He didn't want her to leave because he enjoyed their friendship, he enjoyed the little talks about nothing and the tiny jokes they shared. He felt if she stayed just a little while longer, maybe he can work himself up to getting her to talk with him about something more meaningful, but he had no clue what that would be._

" _I'm always careful." Michonne closed her pack, placed it on her shoulder and grabbed her katana. "Thank you for this," she lifted up her wrist where the watch now sit and began to walk out the cell. Rick couldn't help but looked down at what he thought was the most perfect behind. Michonne stopped and turned her head around, not giving Rick much time to awkwardly stare at the ceiling. "Are you going to walk me to the gates?"_

" _Yeah… yeah, of course," he said. He closed her cell door behind him and walked along with Michonne as he silently prayed that she would indeed be careful out there and come back to him._

 **Now**

Taking his eyes off Michonne's watch, Rick looked at his ring and twisted it around his finger. He moved it up and down until it was completely removed from his finger. He was ready to feel some sense of loss not having the ring on. He was ready to feel guilt for removing it, but instead he felt he should have taken it off a long time ago, his heart moved on and finally his brain agreed.

Rick turned over to his side and placed the ring next to Michonne's watch. He stared at both objects until his eyelids grew heavy and sleep came calling.


	2. Part Two

**Part Two**

"You've got a minute?" It was a still dark outside as Rick headed out to start his morning shift. He thought Jessie was asleep when he walked passed her on the couch until she spoke. "I want to ask you something?" Rick started to go over the possible questions and none of them were questions he wanted to answer. "Do you want me to stay? Because I want to stay?"

 _Naw. I want a family with Michonne and I can't do that with you here,_ he thought.

"Sam really misses being at home. I figured you both were ready to move on," Rick said.

"I am ready to move on, but leaving here wasn't what I had in mind." She looked at Rick, he knew she was waiting for him to respond, but he was still trying to find a nice way to say, 'you can't be here when Michonne moves in'.

"Rick," she continued, scooting to the edge of the couch. "I want to move on with you."

Rick swallowed, but his mouth was dry. Tensed now, his brain scrambled for a way out of this conversation, but no feasible solutions were presenting itself. He could escape a house full of murderers, but couldn't find a way to escape a former housewife armed with a blanket and expectations he could not—would not fulfill.

"I love someone and she means everything to me." Rick stopped himself, he began to rub his fingers together. By the glum look on Jessie's face that was not what she wanted to hear. The silence between them pregnated the air. Rick wanted to soften the blow, but didn't trust himself to actually do that.

"Wow, I… I didn't know." Jessie got up from the couch, Rick backed closer to the door. She shook her head at his movements and walked to the kitchen. Stopping, she looked back at him, "I thought…" she said sighing. "Never mind."

Rick watched as she went into the kitchen, the light was now on and he could hear her turning the facet on. He felt guilty for not coming clean to her sooner, for even being so stupid to haphazardly pursue her in a poor attempt to get back what he had with Lori; because he couldn't start over with the woman he wanted the most.

The sky was becoming lighter, Rick looked at his watch it read 5:17, and Michonne would be at the office before six. He could hear Jessie moving around in the kitchen, he quickly debated whether to continue the talk, but decided against it, he had an entire pitch he prepared in his sleep for Michonne. He looked towards the kitchen one last time and walked out the door. 

* * *

Michonne was already at the home turned constable office when Rick walked into the door. She was leaning back in her chair with her feet on the desk, reading a book.

"What are you reading?" He asked. Michonne looked up as Rick sat down at his own desk.

" _Persuasion_ by Jane Austen." She went back to reading her book, trying to focus on the words and not on Rick staring at her.

"What's it about?"

"Second chances."

"Hmm…" Rick twiddle his fingers then got up from his seat and walked behind Michonne. Leaning over her, he read along with her. Michonne jerked her head, the chair swiveled so that she was partially facing him and she looked at him wide-eyed.

"What are you doing?" Rick straighten up trying to keep a straight face.

"I wanted to see if there was anything in that book that could help me." Michonne placed the book on the desk and stood up.

"Maybe. Have you unwisely rejected anyone recently?"

"Yes and no."

"Yes… and no?" She asked with a quizzical expression.

"I have rejected someone, but it wasn't unwisely."

"Oh," Michonne moved past him. When Michonne said nothing else, it dawned on Rick that he may have misspoken.

"You know I'm not talking about you?"

"Never said you were." Michonne now was reading through papers on a folder. "Abraham left a note in here, says he wanted to meet us this morning at 7." Michonne didn't look up at Rick and continued to read the notes on what needed to be done today. Rick read his watch, it was now 5:56.

"Jessie is moving out," Rick blurted out. Michonne still didn't look up from the folder. "I told her that Abraham was going to start fixing her house… I haven't told Abraham that though," Rick slightly chuckled. Michonne closed up the folder and finally looked over at Rick. She was completely expressionless, Rick couldn't tell if she cared about this news or not.

"What do you want me to say?"

"When can I move in, Rick?" He said.

"Were you guys together?"

"No." Rick walked to Michonne, grabbed her shoulders so that she was facing him. "No," he said again emphatically. "I'm going to be completely honest with you Michonne." Rick licked his lips, he was nervous and felt the familiar anxiety that he had when he confessed to Michonne about the gun plot. Michonne looked at him, her brown eyes held a look of uncertainty and what he thought was sadness. Rick hoped that what he said next would change that.

"I won't make excuses for my behavior towards Jessie because there really is none. It really started at the party… I kissed her on the cheek and from there I wanted her." Michonne looked away from him, she stared at a tiny black spider that was crawling up the wall, and she watched as it would make a few steps, slide down and continue to crawl back up only to slide a bit again. "Michonne," hearing Rick say her name, she focus on him.

Rick felt that Michonne needed to know everything even if it may be painful, so he continued. "The reason why I wanted her was because in my mind she represented what I had before. And I thought in a sick stupid way, if I had her I could get back what I lost and more. But, I woke up, Michonne, I woke up."

Rick moved his hands from Michonne's shoulders and onto her face, forcing her to look him in the eye. "You woke me up. Her moving in with me was me trying to appease the guilt I felt for my stupidity. The infatuation was over the second you knocked me out."

Michonne snicker and pushed Rick away from her. She needed some breathing room and time to process what he told her. "Is this for real?" She knew there had been more to Rick's behavior the first week they were at ASZ than just feeling like they weren't safe.

"This is real. I…"

"You want to know what _Persuasion_ is about." Michonne said cutting him off. "It's about this woman, she makes a huge mistake by choosing to not be with someone she loves because of petty reasons." Michonne placed the folder on the desk beside the book and walked back towards Rick.

"And years later, she's alone, full of regret, but he comes back. He comes back into her life and she hopes that he can forgive her, that he won't be prideful and reject her the way she rejected him."

"Mich…"

"Let me finish," Michonne had tears in her eyes. "This _thing_ between us, terrifies me, but… I'm tired Rick. I'm tired of living with regrets. I want you, even though being with you scares the shit out of me," Michonne said tearfully.

"It scares me too," he laughed. "I mean, I chose to act like a raging ego-centric lunatic because I was scared yo—" Michonne kissed him before he could finish his sentence. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and captured his bottom lip in her mouth. Moaning as she explored his lips, Michonne was honestly tired of talking, right now her body wanted Rick. She removed herself from his mouth and shyly covered her own with her hand. Rick started to stutter, he felt like he was a kid again getting a kiss from his crush.

Michonne reached up and kissed him again, this time Rick didn't let shock leave him mobile less. Their tongues entwined, exploring uncharted territory. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pushing her closer to him. Breaking the kiss, Rick gazed at her as she licked her lips, the plumpness of her lips were always inviting. He gently cupped her chin and sucked on her lower lip, when he pulled apart from her, Michonne's eyes slowly opened.

"That was nice," she said grinning.

"You and me are going to give it a try, take it slow?" He asked. Michonne leaned into him, placing her head on his chest.

"What if I told you I didn't want to take it slow?" Her hand slowly went down his chest and past his waist where it stopped. Rick started to breathe heavier and his groin responded to Michonne's traveling hand. With her chin on his chest, she gave him a big beautiful smile and winked at him.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Rick…"

"Because," he interrupted, "I don't think you can handle what I'll be putting down." Michonne laughed loudly.

"Where did you hear that from?"

"What do you mean?"

"No, do not act clueless, you heard that from someone."

"Ma'am. I honestly don't know what you're talking about." Rick raised both hands as if he was surrendering, he chuckled a bit at her look of disbelief. She smiled at him and reach up to grab his hands and brought them to her side and leaned up to give him another kiss.

The kiss became more fervent, Rick turned her around on the table and lifted her onto it. He moved his hands down the side of her stomach and underneath her shirt until he reach her bra. Michonne moaned and tugged at his hair. Avoiding her breasts, Rick moved his hands up and down her back and then unclasped Michonne's bra. He then lightly kissed her jawline and down her neck.

Michonne clung to his neck wrapped her legs around him while he sucked on her neck. Pulling up from her he took off his jacket and unbutton his shirt meanwhile Michonne unbutton hers. Rick took a moment to appreciate the beauty of her smooth skin, tight abs, and her breasts that were still covered by a black bra. Rick helped Michonne remove the bra and he took in the sight of her dainty breasts, his hand covered her entire right breast as he gently squeeze it and rolled her nipple between his fingers. Her areolas were small which made her harden nipples stand out.

He bent down, grinding his erection in her crotch and took her right nipple into his mouth. He flicked his tongue back and forth then sucked on the nipple hard.

"Rick, mmh…" Michonne rolled her hips onto Rick's crotch and ran her hand through his hair as he played with her breasts. Rick sucked around her nipple, licking and sucking her flesh. He massaged her left breast, grabbed the whole breast and latched his mouth onto its nipple. "Oh God," Michonne whimpered, while he lightly bit and nipped at her breast, she unbutton and zipped down her pants and reached a little further until she felt Rick's harden cock through his pants. This time it was Rick who began to moan into Michonne's skin.

He released Michonne's nipple from his mouth and thrusted into her. Then took a step back, he gazed over his handiwork, Michonne was breathing heavy and rubbing her breasts. Michonne kicked off her boots and with her legs together in the air, peeled off her pants and panties. Rick legs falter as Michonne's pussy lips came into view, wet and plump. Without further ado Rick tossed his holster to the side, removed his belt, unbuckled his jeans and pushed them and his underwear down to his ankles. Not bothering to remove his boots, he moved back towards Michonne.

"Touch me, please," Michonne pleaded, bringing her legs back down and around Rick. Her pussy clench when she saw Rick's length and thickness leaving pre-cum on her thigh and she became wetter when his hand massaged her outer lips. Rick explored Michonne's pussy, caressing her lips from the bottom near her opening back up to her clit. He slid one finger in her inner lips, coating his finger with her wetness and lubricating her clit. He then slipped his middle finger in her and his ring finger joined it. Michonne's inner walls clung to Rick's fingers and she began squirming on the table as he increased the speed of his thrusting.

"Ooh, I'm gonna cum. I'm cumming!" Michonne held on to the table as she reached her peak, crying out as she shook from the orgasm. She didn't realize how much she missed the natural high an orgasm delivered and she certainly didn't realize she forgotten how amazing it felt when a man worshipped her pussy with his mouth.

Rick made long strokes with his tongue, slurping as much of Michonne's nectar he could get. He enjoyed her womanly scent and the sounds of her moans as he inflicted pleasure onto her. He gripped her clit in between his mouth and mercilessly flicked his tongue across it until Michonne begged him to stop.

Honoring her request, Rick gave her nub a sweet kiss and then position himself so that his length was at her entrance. Slowly entering her, Rick breath hitched and held onto her thighs as he enjoyed the sensation of Michonne's tight and incredibly wet pussy. Michonne relaxed the best that she could, but she felt like a virgin again. The slight discomfort soon subsided though when Rick filled her up, he tried to control himself to prevent coming too soon. But trying to exert control was difficult when Michonne moved her hips.

He leaned over her so that their whole body met with each other, Michonne grasp ahold of Rick's mouth with hers, pulling him in for another kissed. They both moaned as they began to move at a faster pace.

"Fuck," Rick said muttering. "You're perfect, my God you feel so good baby." Michonne whimpered as their movements became fever pitch, she could feel she was close to her second orgasm as she clawed Rick's back. If Rick felt the scratches he didn't show it, he set his hands on the desk and used his arms to support most of his weight. He never left his eyes off of Michonne as he thrusted deeply into her and so hard that the desk moved a bit across the floor. He studied how intense Michonne looked, eyes closed, mouth opened, saying his name over and over.

"Look at me," Rick commanded. Michonne's eyes open and met contact with Rick's, she wanted to tell him again that she was there, but her eyes conveyed the message because he thrusted harder until her walls clenched tightly around him and she came all over him. Rick wasn't far behind as he quickly pulled out of Michonne's warmth and came over her lower stomach.

Rick pulled Michonne on top of him as they both collapsed to the floor. Catching his breath, Rick tried to think back to the last time he ever felt so satisfied in life. He moved Michonne's dreads out of her sweat-covered face and gently kissed her forehead.

"Any regrets?" He hoped that Michonne hadn't changed her mind about embarking on the next chapter of her life with him.

"I'm done having regrets."

"So when our shift is over, you'll be moving in right?"

Michonne looked up at him in confusion. "Rick, I think you can wait a little while longer until a certain someone else has left." She smiled, "Don't be rude."

"Yes sweetie."

"Sweetie?"

"You don't like 'sweetie,' how about 'sugar plums' or 'baby cakes' or…"

"Or none of the above and we need to get up and fixed our mess because Abraham is going to be knocking on that door in less than five minutes." Michonne started to get up and gather her clothes.

"That's kind of a long pet name," Rick said, sitting up and dodging his jacket that Michonne threw at him.

Rick put his underwear and pants back on and looked at his watch which now read 6:36. He looked over at Michonne who was making herself presentable again. He mused over what the future held for them. He mused over how he could get Jessie to move out quicker and he mused over what Carl's response will be.

 _Whatever happens_ , he thought as he button his shirt, _losing Michonne will never be part of the equation_.


End file.
